insensible to the dangers they encountered.Everything was made snug on board; and, steady men being placed at thewheel, the captain, followed by Don Luis, retired unconcernedly to hiscabin, desiring to be called, if any change took place. Such was thestate of affairs, as the almost impenetrable shades of night fell overthe face of the ocean, while onward dashed the ship into the darkunknown expanse, like a man plunging, by his own intent, into theunexplored future of another world.
Volume 1, Chapter II.
It was yet some hours before dawn. The gale had rather increased thanlessened in fury, the corvette, with all her canvass closely furled, wasdriving impetuously before it, the wind whistled and howled through therigging; the waves, now rising in mountainous billows, dashed high inwild confusion, and, rolling towards her, seemed, with savage intent,about to overwhelm her; but, proudly holding her course, she rushedthrough them unharmed. At intervals, too, flashes of lightning dartedfrom the overcharged clouds, lighting up the scene again to leave themighty void in greater obscurity than before.
At a moment when the heavens had emitted a flash longer continued andbrighter than usual, a loud cry from the look-out men ahead was heard."A sail ahead! Starboard! hard-a-starboard! or we shall be into her!"was passed along the decks with startling rapidity, and there was scarcetime for the vessel to answer the helm, before the lofty masts and sparsof a ship were seen towering to the sky, so close on board them, thatthe corvette seemed to graze her yards, as they flew by her likelightning. The stranger seemed, by the glance they had of her, to be alarge ship, hove to on the starboard tack, under a close reefedmain-topsail.
The old pilot, who had just come on deck to relieve the secondlieutenant from his watch, gazed earnestly towards the void in which shehad disappeared, as if he would penetrate its thick curtain of darkness,and shook his head as he observed, "I like not thus to meet a bark suchas that we have just passed. She is an omen of death and destruction tosome who float on these seas; and if she was built in any known port, Iam very much mistaken."
"What, Senhor Nunez! do you not take her for a real ship?" asked thesecond lieutenant. "For my own part, by her appearance, I had no doubtof it, and I felt my heart beat all the lighter when we were clear ofher; now, if she were a phantom, as you seem to say, we should have goneclean through without any damage."
"That comes of trusting to your new-fangled philosophy, instead ofputting faith in the signs Heaven sends us to warn us of danger,"answered the pilot. "Not that I mean to say there was anything holy inyonder bark; but Heaven often permits evil spirits to work out its ownpurposes, for which she may perhaps be allowed to wander on this stormyocean. I have not doubled the Cape for the last fifty years withoutseeing such sights as would make your hair stand on end, and your heartsink within you."
"Well, well, I will not now dispute the point with you," responded theyoung officer, "you are an older man by many years than I am, and ofcourse have seen many more wonderful things; but we will discuss thesubject some day when I can manage to keep my eyes open, which I can nowscarcely do; however, ought I not, before I turn in, to let the captainknow what we have seen?"
"Do as you like; but it will be rousing him up to little purpose," saidthe old man. "The chances are, that the next time we see her, she willbe right ahead, with all her canvass set, coming down upon us."
The lieutenant was just descending to the main-deck, when at thatinstant a cry of surprise from one of the young midshipmen arrested him,and the stranger was perceived dashing after them, as she emerged fromthe obscurity, her white canvass gleaming brightly, as it reflected theflashes of lightning. He hastened down to call the captain, who, at thefirst summons, rushed on deck, where he was soon joined by his youngpassenger.
"I did not expect to see yonder stranger where he now is," said thepilot, as, the captain joining him on the poop, he pointed out thephantom-looking ship; "and, for the life of me, I cannot make him out;but I think no good of him. He is more likely to be a foe than a friendto any mortal cruisers."
"Whether he be friend or foe, he seems at all events in a great hurry tospeak us," exclaimed the Captain; "but methinks his speaking-trumpetswill not be of much avail in a hurricane like this; why, the spirit ofthe storm laughs all human efforts to naught; and I should have thoughthe could scarcely have distinguished our bare poles through this inkydarkness."
"Those on board her don't require any night glasses to see their prey,"said the old Pilot, gloomily; "they scent it from afar, as the vulturedoes a carcass."
"Whether he can see us or not, here he comes," shouted the Captain."Beat to quarters--we will be prepared for him. Topmen, ready aloft.We will make sail, if necessary," he added, turning to Senhor Nunez;"but he is, probably, one of our fire-eating friends, an Englishman, whowill never let a ship on the high seas escape their scrutiny, in thehopes of finding an enemy worth engaging."
"I don't think he belongs to any nation that carries a flag," answeredSenhor Nunez, piously crossing himself, "and I have been vowing two waxcandles to our Lady of Belem, to be bought out of my arrears of pay, ifshe will shield us from all the powers of darkness."
"Our blessed Lady protect us from such!" said the Captain; "but I thinkwe shall have none but mortal enemies to contend with in yonder ship."
The men, in the meantime, went steadily to their quarters; and now thatthere was considerable danger to be incurred, their tongues were kept insilence, their ears ready to catch any orders that might follow, thoughthey fully shared in the old pilot's ideas as to the supernaturalcharacter of the ship in sight.
"Let every alternate gun be run out on the starboard side, SenhorAlvez," said the Captain; "we cannot fight our entire battery in a sealike this; and a few well-handled guns will do more work than a wholebroadside ill served; but I do not surmise we shall be brought to thatpass. She will scarcely wish to fight us, and I have no intention ofattacking her till I know what she is."
This disposition of the crew took some little time to make, as there wasdanger, as well as difficulty, in putting the guns in fighting order."Keep her edging away to the south," he added, to the quarter-master,who was conning the ship; "we will endeavour to keep our friend on thestarboard side."
The order was scarcely given, when the stranger, ranging up on thestarboard quarter, a voice from her forecastle hailed them; but the loudroaring of the blast, and dashing of the waves, drowned all distinctionsof sounds, and before Captain Pinto, seizing his speaking-trumpet, hadtime to answer, a shot from her bow gun whistled over their heads,followed by six or eight others, as she ranged alongside; but, flyinghigh, they did little damage.
"Ah! our friend has taken the tone of his temper to-night from theweather, and is rather inclined for strife; but we will show him,whoever he is, that he has caught a Tartar. Fire! my men, fire!" criedthe Captain, "and aim low; he deserves some punishment for not makingmore polite inquiries respecting our health before he began theengagement, as a gentleman should do." The order was obeyed withalacrity, two or three of the shot seeming to take effect on the hull oftheir adversary: for, by the bright flashes of the guns, some whitespots were perceptible on her bulwarks, which might have convincedothers less determinately superstitious, of her substantial nature.
"Topmen aloft, and make sail!" shouted the Captain, through hisspeaking-trumpet; "we will fight this daring stranger to everyadvantage; for it will not do to allow him to haul across our bows, ashe seems to have some intention of doing, even at great risk to himself.At all events, he is not a person to be trifled with."
The fore and main-topsails, closely-reefed, were now let fall, and, withgreat exertion, extended to their yard-arms; the two ships being thus onan equality of sailing, continued to run side by side, exchanging everynow and then strong and noisy proofs of their vicinity, by an irregulardischarge of their guns, as they could be brought to bear in the heavysea that was running, and as they gained a momentary glance of eachother. It was fearful thus fighting amid darkness on the raging ocean,which, of itself, afforded da
ngers sufficient to encounter; yet 'twas ascene which made the heart of Don Luis throb with wild excitement, suchas he had never before experienced--the howling of the tempest, themuttered growls of the thunder, the roar of the guns, their brightflashes, and the forked lightning, which played around the masts of theships, as if to remind them that they were liable to destruction from afar greater Power than that of which their own mortal efforts werecapable. As yet the guns of the enemy had done no more damage thancutting some of the running rigging; but it was impossible to say whatmischief those of the corvette had inflicted in retaliation, though,from the pertinacity of her opponent, it was supposed to have been butslight.
"If yonder ship does not carry the devil and a
The Prime Minister Page 5